On Heresies and Other Religions
Representatives of the papist Byzantine emperor Michael Paleologos and the
Patriarch John Vekkos came to Mount Athos to impose by force a union of the
Orthodox Church with Rome. The Athonite monks, frontier guard¬ians and
soldiers of Orthodoxy, reacted peacefully and with courage to all their
efforts, which were marked by savagery, violence and criminality—the stigmas
of papal history.
In the Protaton, Vekkos' men hanged the overseer of the Holy Community and
on a piece of marble which is pre¬served to this day, beheaded the
neomartyrs and confessors of the faith remaining there, thirteen of them all
together, who were occupying various cells in Karyes. They were slain for
steadfastly defending the Orthodox faith and because they would not accept
union with the unrepentant pope.
Such were our holy fathers: "Beautiful branches, mysti¬cal grapes, tireless
defenders and trustees of Orthodoxy and its Holy Tradition."
The holy martyrs of Vatopedi were as many as the twelve Apostles. Their
hegumen Euthymios also suffered martyr¬dom for the sake of our holy faith
during the savage inva¬sion by the troops of Emperor Michael Paleologos and
Pa¬triarch Vekkos. The twelve were hanged on Phourkovounion, and Euthymios
was drowned after he was tied with heavy chains and submerged in the sea of
Kalamidjiou. In addi¬tion to them, worth mentioning also are the holy
martyrs of Iviron who were drowned in the sea by the soldiers of the emperor
and his patriarch.
All twenty-six holy martyrs of Zographou complete the sanctified chorus of
martyrs of our Orthodoxy. They were burned as a pure offering by papists
within the monastery's towers.
Our holy father Nikiphoros, who had been a papist, when he joined the
Eastern Orthodox Church became a hesychast in the desert of the Holy
Mountain. There he wrote the method of noetic prayer which is included in
the Philokalia.
St. Gregory Palamas, champion of theologians, took part in three major
synods, at which he struggled against the Latin-minded heresies of Varlaam,
Akindynos, and Gregoras, who denied the divine and uncreated energies of
God.
At one time Father B. went to a village on business for his monastery. The
villagers came to him as soon as he arrived, asking him persistently to help
them defend the Truth be¬fore an Evangelical preacher who, using quotations
from the Bible, was bothering them greatly with slanders regarding the
veneration of saints and the Theotokos. The monk was simple and almost
illiterate, and he felt awkward. But after he had thought for a while,
recalling all he had frequently read about the saints and their lives, he
invited the Protes¬tant preacher to meet with him and proposed this:
"Let us light a fire," he said, "in the middle of the village square. Each
one of us will go through it and let God prove this way which from the two
of us has the Truth."
Very early the next morning the villagers gathered wood and piled it up in a
great heap in the middle of the square. Father B. arrived, but the preacher
did not come. He had fled, taking the first boat out at daylight. The whole
village raised cries of joy for the glorious victory over the teachings of
human deceit. When Father B. returned to the monas¬tery, the other monks
asked him: "Were you prepared to go through the fire?"
"I was anxious, but I did not doubt our faith, and I thought: 'On this earth
you deserve nothing but to be in hell. It would be better if you were burned
here on earth than to be burning through eternity. Let us then enter into
the fire'." Thus did this deeply humble, simple monk de¬fend our Faith —
just as had the first martyrs and the spir¬itual fathers before him.
Frequently the fathers of Mount Athos say: "If we were to remain silent when
our Faith needs defending against heresies, what then would be the point of
our staying on these cliffs all these many years?" Dogmas cannot enter the
Com¬mon Market as material goods can.
When questioned as to whether or not miracles occur in other religions, an
elder replied: "There is a difference! Even Hodja is a miracle worker. By
using magic, he tries to make light appear. In contrast, we ignore any light
coming from the devil. Some hold their noses, pull their ears, rub their
eyes, and cause illusions. We ask God for a miracle, not the devil. We fight
evil day and night."
A pious, charismatic Agioritan who had lived in North America for many
years, said: "The Orthodox Church imi¬tates the humility of the Lord Jesus.
Many seeing the exact¬ness of our Faith, marvel and change from heretics to
Or¬thodox."
"They have overlooked the head to revere the cap" the wise, vigilant Father
Kallinikos said when he was asked to give his opinion of the Russian heresy
of the Name Worship¬pers.
An elder spoke this way about love for the pure Faith: 'Anger is needed only
when we defend our Faith. It is not needed for the defence of ourselves. If
someone speaks ill against us we ought to accept it. We should be angry
however, when our Faith is attacked: anger used to defend Orthodoxy is
appropriate."
Very often our youthful heart was refreshed by the cool foun¬tain of
teaching which flowed from the venerable Hieromonk Athanasios the Iviritan.
He would so often say:
The Protestant North, through the professors of our two Greek universities,
cooled our warm affections toward our sweetest Mother Panagia. Thus for a
time she was distanced from our prayers as direct intercessor and mediator
for us to her Son. Even some clergy when discussing prayer, ig¬nore the
Theotokos and repeatedly refer to her as the 'first after the One,' meaning
that she is the intercessor closest to God — whereas the hymnography of the
Church through and through calls her by her blessed name. It is unacceptable
that our Greek Orthodox Church should be influenced by such a rationalistic,
Germanic, Protestant spirit.
I was asked which is the right way: to say 'Most Holy Theotokos save us,' or
to say 'Most Holy Theotokos inter¬cede for us.' This question was influenced
by some modern¬ized, Protestant-minded Orthodox people whom I have
con¬sidered most disrespectful enemies of Panagia. I replied to them: The
accepted way, always, is to say "Save us".'
A Lutheran minister from Oslo came to me once. He was a friend and student
of Orthodoxy. We talked about many things. He asked me about the Theotokos.
My reply to him was: 'We worship God, we honour the saints, and we venerate
the only Mother of God with pure filial emo¬tions, for she is our sweetest
Mother by grace. Oh, how you are deprived,' I told him, 'because you do not
venerate her who is the second after God to administer His gifts to all
mankind.'
According to Augustine, three things could not have been more perfectly
created by our omnipotent God than these the Incarnation, the Virgin, and
the blessed life of the just in the life to come
